Many buildings include concrete foundations which support the structure of the building and form a basement for the building. While some basements remain unfinished, with the concrete foundation acting as the floor and walls of the basement, many people desire to have a finished basement space to increase the overall square footage of the building. To finish a basement, it is necessary to cover over the concrete foundation walls with a more suitable wall covering, usually with a framed wall which is located just inside the concrete foundation wall. This framed wall may be constructed from metal or wood structures, including bottom and top plates and vertically-positioned studs which are spaced between the top and bottom plates across the distance of the concrete foundation wall. While the positioning of the framed wall can vary, it is common to leave a 1-2 inch gap between the backside of the framed wall and the inside of the concrete wall. This air gap or cavity provides an envelope between the framed wall and the concrete, which is needed to allow proper air circulation behind the framed wall, which in turn, helps prevent moisture build up or related problems, such as the formation of mold. After the framed wall is in place, wall covering materials, such as sheetrock, paint, and the like, are used to complete the basement walls.
In most basement finishing construction, it is necessary to insulate the framed wall to provide proper thermal conditions in the basement. Insulation commonly occurs in the form of batted fiberglass insulation which is hand-fitted between studs in the framed wall prior to installation of the wall cover materials. Usually, batts of insulation are sized to be friction fit within the stud cavities. For example, for a conventional 2″×4″ framed wall, framed 16″ on center, R13 fiberglass insulation batts having a width of approximately 15″ are placed by workers into the 14.5″ cavity between the studs. However, ensuring that the insulation batts are placed in the proper location can be challenging since the insulation batts are prone to being misplaced in the wall by hasty workers, or are prone to inadvertently being dislodged from their proper positions.
FIGS. 1A-1C are top view illustrations of a conventional finished basement wall, in accordance with the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1A, when the insulation batts 2 are placed within the framed wall 4, between the studs 6, it is common for the insulation batts 2 to be pushed too far inward towards the concrete wall 8. As a result, the insulation batts 2 have a tendency to fill the air gap 10 between the framed wall 4 and the concrete wall 8, which obstructs the air flow within the air gap 10. Moreover, this positioning of the insulation batts 2 significantly decreases the thermal value of the insulation. As shown in FIG. 1B, it is also common for insulation batts 2 to be installed improperly where the middle section of the insulation batts 2 extends beyond the front face of the studs 6. This situation can make it difficult to install a wall covering, such as drywall, since the protruding insulation prevents proper positioning of the drywall during installation, and over time it exerts a constant outward force on the drywall which can lead to fastener pull-through. When a wall covering isn't installed, such as in an unfinished basement, the protruding insulation batts 2 are susceptible to falling out over time.
Even when the insulation batts 2 are placed in the proper position initially, such as is shown in FIG. 1C, the wood studs 6 have a tendency to shrink over time due to loss of moisture. This shrinkage causes the distance between the studs 6 to enlarge and form gaps 5 on either side of the insulation batt 2. The presence of these gaps 5 decreases the frictional force of which the wood studs hold the insulation batts 2 in place. Furthermore, even when insulation batts 2 with a paper facing are used, with the paper facing affixed to the front edge of the studs 4, it is still inevitable that the insulation batt 2 will extend past the back of the framed wall 4 and into the air gap 10. All of these problems can decrease the quality of the wall's performance.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.